I am teaching four sign language classes, two sections of Fundamentals of Sign Language, one section of Sign Language III, and one graduate section of Advanced Sign Language.

Originally, I had been assigned only one section of Fundamentals of Sign Language. However, the class was split, because there were 100 students! I now have one section with 25 students and the other has 75.

This is about 75 students working in groups.

There are 30 students in Sign Language III. There is only one student in the Advanced Sign Language class and she is acting as my teaching assistant in the other three sign language classes.

You may be wondering how an American can be teaching signed language in Ghana. This may be a good time to explain a little about the relationship between American Sign Language and Ghanaian Sign Language. Back in the late 1950’s and early 1960’s, the Reverend Andrew Jackson Foster traveled to West Africa. He was the first African American Deaf man to graduate from Gallaudet University. He set up the first school for the deaf in Ghana and taught there for one year. He used American Sign Language. I am able to communicate with members of the Deaf Community in Ghana fairly well, though, there are some signs that are different. Some of the differences are in how the signs are produced (phonology/cherology), while others have to do with their meaning (semantics).

Fortunately, I have one Deaf student and one hard-of-hearing student in the smaller section of Fundamentals of Sign Language, 6 in the larger section, and 5 in Sign Language III. I see these students commenting when I sign something differently. We talk about the differences. We learn together. We talk about the parameters that make up signs and how those differ. We talk about how important facial expressions are to the meanings of signs and sentences. I encourage the students to use only visual language, Sign Language or written English. Students have difficulty allowing other students to feel uncomfortable as they come to understand a particular sign, concept, or construction. They will say what it is I am trying to communicate.

There are no textbooks. I am using books written by Dr. Alexander Oppong, the Signing Naturally curriculum, and the book by Jason Zinza. The students may or may not have Dr. Oppong’s book. The 100 students in the Fundamentals of Sign Language classes are sharing two student workbooks. In the 400 Level Sign Language class, the students are sharing the more advanced Signing Naturally books.